


Methods to his Madness

by Solia



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Early in Canon, Gen, Research, casefic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 13:37:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16119566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solia/pseuds/Solia
Summary: Preparing for a new case, Mulder and Scully are forced to justify an alternative approach to Skinner, their stickler boss. Set in the early years. Oneshot for now, with larger collection to come.





	Methods to his Madness

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Methods to his Madness 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The X-Files, its premise or any of its characters. This chapter is the first in a series of creative research outputs for my doctoral thesis and uses The X-Files as a medium for purposes of parody. 
> 
> Author’s notes: As stated above, this work is a research output of my PhD study, in which I use fanfiction as both my field of study and my dissemination method. Embedded within my final thesis will be a full-length X-Files casefic that comments upon the research findings as it takes shape around the thesis structure. This piece is illustrative of my methodology, in which I argue for non-traditional means of investigating a non-traditional community and subject, where Mulder is representative of the arts, Scully of academic rigour and Skinner of the traditional academy mindset. As I want to create the most authentic possible experience, the full story will eventually be made available as I work through my study, giving the fic the opportunity to reshape and refine through usual community review practices. Feedback is therefore welcomed and encouraged, especially relating to characterisation and dialogue, my main areas of interest. 
> 
> While I realise this may come across intimidating, please know I am just another nerd who writes X-Files and this fic would love to be treated the same as all the other diverse and wonderful XF fanfic out there. Comment and read the way you would any other piece. 
> 
> I am beyond excited to start sharing these with you all :)

The thin folder that landed in the middle of the desk contained the preliminary approval for their investigation, but it didn’t look the way Mulder had imagined it when he’d submitted the proposal.

“What’s this?” he asked, running his practiced eyes down the first page, thumb already impatiently flicking at the bottom corner, ready to flip to the next. Beside him, his partner leaned closer to see and silently took the top page when he’d finished reading. Unsatisfied, he glanced up across the desk. “This isn’t what I had in mind.”

“How surprising,” Assistant Director Walter Skinner commented dryly. “Were you thinking something a little more exciting? More heroic?”

“A little less clunky, preferably.” Mulder waved the folder irritably. “We’re not going to learn anything, coming in heavy like this.”

“It doesn’t look like the approving agent paid much attention to your description of the context, Mulder,” Scully noted lightly as she read her page. Mulder shot a quick smirk her way.

“Who do you think it was this time? Probably Carter, I swear he’s got it in for me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the investigation’s design,” Skinner insisted. “It’s perfectly consistent with the Bureau’s standard. The methods are sound, reliable and time-tested. Thousands of cases have been successfully closed with–”

“You wrote this,” Mulder knew immediately, and the errant agent’s flippant manner further annoyed the assistant director, as usual.

“Yes, I wrote this. I approved your investigation _with conditions_ , which isn’t unreasonable.”

“But the expectation that such a unique and sensitive case can be approached in such a generic, forceful way _is_ unreasonable,” Mulder shot back without restraint, sharpening his boss’s frown. “Marching in like men in black is going to send the culprit to ground before we even start interviewing, and treating the whole community like a crime scene we can’t touch for fear of contaminating it isn’t going to give us the full picture of what’s happening there. We aren’t going to _learn_ anything. All the real evidence is going to go astray, overlooked like always. But,” he slapped the cover of the folder closed over the preliminary approval form, “I don’t suppose anyone cares about that but us. Right?”

Scully had remained silent throughout her partner’s passionate outburst, eyes averted from their supervisor’s frustrated, bespectacled face. This tug-of-war between Mulder’s determinedly unconventional approach to investigating crime and Skinner’s conservative, unimaginative company interests was not new, and she could easily envisage their expressions without looking just as she could have recited the basic outline of this debate before it unfolded. Ever the mediator between their two extremes, she played the voice of rationality, but like always, when she stepped in, it was into Mulder’s corner. The mainstream didn’t need an advocate.

“Respectfully, sir, the Bureau’s authority doesn’t make their standard methods universally appropriate,” she pointed out, reasonably. “You have to agree that there are hundreds of effective methods for the investigation of complex cases, and many thousands of combinations, and you must agree that while some methods and approaches might be unorthodox, it’s the degree of reliability and rigour that counts.”

Somewhat calmed by Scully’s interjection, Skinner nodded, clasping his hands together on the polished desktop before him. “I do agree. And you consider Agent Mulder’s proposal of running amok in the community you’re investigating to be a reliable, _rigorous_ investigative approach, Agent Scully?”

She hesitated, feeling her partner’s sideways, slightly apologetic gaze. She came from a quantitative science background, favouring hard facts and numerical values, and still needed reminders that these weren’t the only way of measuring the world – they were, in fact, rarely the sole means of understanding human matters. “Agent Mulder’s approach has gotten us much closer to the truth in all our previous work than any more traditional courses of action.”

“Perhaps,” the assistant director relented, turning his attention back to the agent in question, “but sooner or later, someone’s going to question your creative licence on this case, and I’m the one who’ll have to answer for you. I can’t have sloppy work, agents.”

“We don’t do sloppy work,” Mulder replied hotly. “We do _authentic_ work. We’re methodical.” He paused, perhaps hearing his own words aloud, and corrected himself. “Scully’s methodical.”

“I think Mulder’s right and we need to handle this delicately,” Scully jumped in. “We need a few days inside that community without our suits and badges influencing everybody’s behaviour and answers. But our investigation needs to stand up in court at the other end of this, and our methodology needs to be robust, airtight.”

“I agree,” Skinner said again. “What do you suggest?”

“We go in undercover,” Mulder spoke up, intuiting his partner’s direction. “We take up a position inside the community, blend in, do what they do, learn to see and experience the world the way they do.”

“From there we can make our observations and ask our questions without getting in anyone’s way or tipping off our culprit,” Scully added. She could see that Skinner was coming around to the well-reasoned compromise. “Our presence was never going to go unnoticed, but if we investigate while participating in the community’s usual practices and undertake our inquiry through those practices, we can gain a fuller, richer understanding of the context of the case while imposing minimal impact on both the community and our data collection.” She waited a beat before the punchline. “It’s a legitimate investigative approach, sir, with plenty of precedents, even if our direction is unusual.”

The assistant director looked between them both in stern, thoughtful silence for a very long moment, considering the new proposal carefully. It was with obvious reluctance that he finally sighed and extended a hand across the table for the folder Mulder still held.

“Fine. I’ll approve it.” He took back the proffered paperwork and picked up a pen. Without looking up at either of them yet still perceiving their shared glance of relief and victory, he instructed, “Keep him in line, Agent Scully.”

“As much as I can, sir.”

“Methodology,” Mulder muttered as he held open the door a good fifteen minutes later, amused with her. “ _Our methodology needs to be robust, airtight_. You sound like you’re back designing your doctoral research project, not putting together a federal investigation.”

Scully passed through and shot him an equally amused look. “Apparently they’re not that different.”


End file.
